Fluid meter



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C. J. BASSLER A FLUID METER Filed -Jne 21 1920 2 sheets-sheet 1 Aug. w, wm Lsosos C. J. BASSLER FLUID METER Filed-June 2l 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

urrsn STATES Pixrnrrr ori-"ICE,

CARLOS J.. BASSLER, OF PORTLAND, OREGON, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO AMERICAN LIQUID METER COMPANY, OF SEATTLE,1 WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.

FLUID METER.

Application led June 21,

' To aZZ whom. it my concern:

"in liuid meters.

Be it known that CARLOS J. Bessnnn, a citizen of the United States oi America, and resident of .the city of Portland, in the' county of Multnomah and State of Ure on, have invented certain new and useful mprovements in Fluid Meters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention comprises an imiprovement My present invention is particularly intended as an improvement upon the meter shown in my copending ap,

A plication, Serial No. 362,423, and is capable expansion.

0f all the uses and variations described in connection with this meter.

The principal object of my invention is to provide means for automatically compensating for expansion of the iuidbeing measured, due to heat. The device may be set to compensate for contraction, as well, but it would generally, in use, be set at a suiiciently low initial temperature, that any variation in volume would only be due to Y Another 'object of my invention is to provide, in addition to the automatic compensating means, independent means for regulating the device to compensate for expansion, tothe end that the initial temperature for which the automatic compensating device is set may be any desired temperature, within reasonable limits. v

A further object of my invention is to provide amore perfect meter of the type shown in my application referred to above.

My present invention comprises those novel parts and combinations thereof which are shown in the accompanying'drawings,

described in the speciication, and partic- 1920. .Serial No. 390,805.

the material of the cylinder itself is negliglble in comparison with the cubical expansion of the body of liquid being measured yet even this circumferential expansion may e compensated for, if desired, by using a liquld in cylinder 57 having a slightly lower coelicient of expansion than the li uid be-l ing measured. However this will or inarily not be found necessary because the difference in result arising from the expansion of the meter body is so slight as to be immaterial,

As in general my present device resembles that shown in m application referred to above, it will not e necessary, to explain its v construction in detail. A piston 4 isvreciprocable within a cylinder 1. This cylinder is closed b the heads 10; in each of which aremounte the seats 12 and 13 for thetubular,

axially-reciprocable inlet valves v2 and outlet valves 3, respectively. Inlet passages 14 and .outlet passages 15 in the cylinderand heads, communicate respectively with ports 16 and 17 in the respective seats 12 and 13. The tubular valves 2 and 3 are open at 'both ends, and are provided with ports 21 and 31, respectively, in their sides, which are adapted to communicate at the proper time with the port 16 or 17, as the case may be.

The airs of valves 2 and 3 at each end of the cy nder are connected by means of a yoke 8. A spindle 22 or 32 upon the inner ends of the valves is held in the end of the yoke 8 to turn freely therein about its axis. The spindle is preferably a loose fit in the yoke, as shown in an exaggerated manner in Figure 2, and this permits a slight rocking transversely of its axis. These two possible movements, free rotation upon its axis and av Y slight transverse pivoting or rocking, permit',

the valve to give while moving, to overcome any tendency to cock or stick. rhis is necessary because tlie valves nfust be a tight t in their seats, and they must move quickly.

Such a construction also permits expansion of the yoke 8 without producing-ia tendency 'for the valves to cock. The yo es 8 at op posite ends of the cylinder are rigidly connected by a'rod 80, extending through the hub 40 of the piston.

l prefer that inthe ends of the cylinder,

in position to receive the outer ends of the tubular valves 2 or 3, there be formedannular grooves'18, of slightly greater width than the thickness of the valve walls. These grooves form dashpots for the valves, and eliminate poundin and Wear thereupon. It

is very desirable t at stops -be provided to accurately limit the movement of the valves,

and to cause their ortsto register exactly,

but it is equally esirable that pounding should be eliminated.

I employ a suitable power storage mechanism to actuate the valves, this being energized by the piston in its travel, and tripped when the piston has reached the predetermined limit of its travel in each direction,

erating'shoulder 50 carried by a dog 5 normally lies to prevent outward lmovement of the spring 41 and cup 42 under pressure.

Beveled surfaces 44 are provided near the hub of the piston 4,which engage the trips 53 .or 55, which will beihereinafter de-A scribed, to release the power storage mechanism and to reverse the valves.

, At one end of the cylinder 1 the detent or dog 5 is inall respects similar to that shown in my application referred to above. It comprises a rod 51, threaded at one end in the shouldereddog 5, and provided at its outer end with a hardened ball 53. The dog 5 is pivoted at 52 in the cylinder head 10, and the cylinder head is bored at 19 and plugged,to permit adjustment of the rod 51 in the dog 5.

The detent at the opposite end of the piston .is similar in many respects to the one described. The rod 51, is however, freely slidable in the dog' 5, and its outer end 55 vis provided with a curved surface to contact Withthe beveled surface 44 upon the piston, and is extended upward to support one end of a spring 56. Upon the dog r5, with its' axis arallel to the axis of the rod 51, is a sma cylinder 57, which is filled with a suitable fluid. This small cylinder A-57 is closed at both ends, at one end by a plug 58 which supports the other end of the spring 56, and at its other end by a plunger 59 extending thereinto, and connected outside of the cylinder to one end of the rod 51. The s ring ger 59 into the cy inder 57,. and should be suciently strong to resist the thrust of the v piston 4 in trip ping. Thus it will be seen that the yokes 8 and the springs 41 constitute actuaaiting'h means for the valves and 56 urges the plun-v that there is provided a thermostatically controlled restraining means or detent for one of said actuating means which restraining means or detent, asa Whole, comprises the dog 5, cylinder 57, rod 51, spring 56 and plunger 59, the eilective length of this dgltlent as a .whole being varied thermostati- C y The should have a coefficient of expansion equal to that'of the fluid being measured in the cylinder 1, and its volume should bear the same relation to the area of the plunger 59 that the volume of the Huid being measured in the cylinder 1 bears to the areaof of the piston 4. In this manner-a 'ven change of temperature of the iuid ing measured will eiiect a given expansion of its volume, requiring a given lineal expansion of the travel of the piston 4, while the same change in temperature will effect a proiiuid which fills the cylinder 57 diierent coeiiicient of expansion than the fluid being measured, but I prefer to obviate such diiculties and the possibility of errors due .to the careful calculations involved, by using a fluid having the same coeliicient, and by making the. volumes and piston are'a's'proportional, as explained above. It is important that the cylinder 57 be tightly closed and entirely filled withthe suitable iuid, and that no air or foreign fluid be permitted to remain therein, as this would cause improper expansion in the cylinder. To fill the cylinder completely any suitable method may be employed, as by screwing in the cap 58 and permitting the fluid to overflow from a small opening therein, and then closing this small opening. The cylinder should be filled with the fluid at as low a temperature as it would be desired touse the meter, and the plunger 59 at this temperature should be very slightly projected from its innermost osition, to make certain that the cylinder 1s full.

With the meter as described it is possible to adjust the length of stroke of the piston exactly for any given temperature by adjusting the rod 51 which is threaded in the dog 5, through the opening 19. After this initial adjustment, any adjustment "of the piston stroke to compensate for temperature changes is automatically cared for by the deteiit at the opposite end of theA cylinder. Adjustments for wear, which would rarely be required, may be eiected through the opening 19.-

What I claim as my invention is:

l. ln a duid meter, a cylinder, a piston mounted therein, inlet and outlet valves controlling the supply to and discharge from said cylinder, power storage lmechanism for operating said valves energized by the piston in its travel, and a detent for said power storage mechanism comprising dog having a shoulder adapted to be engaged by said power storage mechanism and ixedly pivoted Within the cylinder, a trip connected with said dog and adapted to be engaged bythe piston to trip the Wer storage mechanism, and thermostatica ly-controlled means for varying the relative positions of the shoulder and the trip. l

2. A? device as in claim i, said thermostatically-controlled means comprising a cyl- 3. A device as in'claim 1, said thermo-A A bers, and a plun area of the inder filled lwith a fluid and fixed to one of said relatively-movable members, and a plunger movable therein and xed to the other member. i

statically-controlled means comprising a small cylinder lled with a fluid having a coecient of expansion ual to that of the fluid being measured, saidcylinder being xed to one of said relatively-movable memr therein and fixed to the other member, t e ratio of the volume of said small cylinder to the area of the plunggr being e ual to the ratio of the volume to measure in the large cylinder to the piston. y

Il. A. dev1ce as in claim l, said thermostatically-controlled means comprising a cylinder mounted upon said dog and illed with an expansible duid, a lunger movable therein and secured to sai trip to cause axial reciprocation thereof, and a spring acting on said trip in opposition to said plunger.

5. ln a duid meter, a cylinder, a piston mounted therein, inlet and outlet valves controlling the supply to and discharge o trolling the'supply to and discharge from said cylinder, means controlled by the movement of the piston for actuating said valves and thermostatically-controlled means which control said valve actuating means to lengthen thepiston. stroke to compensate for expansion of the duid. .l

6. ln a .duidjmeten a cylinder, a piston mounted therein, inlet and outlet valves confrom said cylinder, actuating means r the valves, a controlling element forthe said actuating means includ' static element the ition of which is shifted by variations o tempera-ture of the duid vbeing measured and the position of which determines the time in the pistons stroke at which Asaid controlling means will act to thereby automatically compensate for 'eia shiftable thermopension of the Huid due to heat, and manually settable means for independently varying the piston stroke.

7. in a fluid meter, a'cylinder, va piston mounted therein, inlet and outlet valves controlling the supply te and discharge from said cylinder, an actuating means for said valves, ai detent for said actuating means comprising an element disposed in the path of movement of the piston and actuated thereby at the end of the piston travel to permit movement of the valves under the iniluence of their actuating means and thermostatically controlled'means for varying the position of said element longitudinally of the cylinder to thereby vary the point in the piston travel at which said piston will actuate said element.

8. ln a duid meter, a cylinder, a piston mounted therein, inlet and outlet valves controlling the supply to and discharge from said cylinder, an actuating means for said valves and a restraining element for said actuating means comprising a thermostatically controlled part actuated by the piston at the end of the pistons travel to move temperature of the lluid'being measured to vary the point in the pistons stroke at which the piston will actuate said part.

9. A duid meter comprising a measuring cylinder, a piston movable iii-said cylinder, means for controlling the stroke of the piston to thereby determine the meterk -discharge, said controlling means including an adjustable element and a thermostatically operated means Vfor adjusting said element.

10. fluid meter having a cylinder and a movable piston forming the measuring mechanism, a pist-on controlling mechanism comprising a part actuated by the piston at an end of its stroke to actuate said controlling mechanism, and thermostatically adjustable meansv acting upon said part to vary the time of its actuation by the piston.

1l. A Huid meter having a cylinder and a duid-actuated piston movable therein forming the measuring mechanism, a pistonmovement limiting means comprising a part actuated by the piston at an end of its stroke to limit the movement of the piston, and thermostatically-controlled means for ,automatically adjusting the position of said part to vary the piston travel in conformity with the temperature of the uid.

12. A {luid-meter having a cylinder and a piston reciprocable therein forming the' measuring mechanism, two piston-lnoveanent-Y limitingmeans each including a; partractuated by the piston at its respective end of the piston stroke to limit the movement of the piston, means for manuallyv adjusting los the position of one of said parts to vary its pointof limitation of the piston movement, and thermostatically controlled means for automatically adjusting the position of the other part to vary its point of limitationA of the piston travel in conformity with the v temperature of the fluid.

13. lin combination a meter comprising a measuring chamber, means for admitting fluid thereto and discharging fluid there- Afromv and thermostatically operable means for varying the effective size of the measuring chamber to increase the same as the temperature of the fluid being measured rises and decrease the same as the temperature of said fluid decreases.,

I 14. In combination a; fluid measuring meter comprising a measuring chamber, an

.element movable therein under the iniiuence of the iuid being measured and thermostatically controlled means for varying the movement of said element in the chamber in accordance withvariations in the temperatrolling the supply tovand discharge from said cylinder, an actuating means for said valves and a thermostatic restraining means for'said actuating means comprising a cylinder filled with an eXpansi-ble Huid and a plunger movata in said cylinder, the position of said plunger beingshited byivaria-l i tions in temperature of theuid being meas' ured to correspondingly vary the time at which said 'restraining meansv will be lavctuated to permit the actuating meansl to move said valves.

Signed at Seattle, King County, `Washj4 ing-ton this-12th dayof June', 1920.

' CARLOS Martesana. 

